1BR is one of the most interesting movies that I've watched in 2020 as I feel like it fooled me at the start and made me love it at the end. I worry that the somewhat goofy beginning of this movie will make people jump ship in the first act, but I really hope they watch it to the end, because it's got some interesting tricks up it's sleeve.

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* (0:55) - Intro* (7:20) - Trailer* (9:30) - Synopsis* (10:15) - Review* (16:45) - Score* (18:47) - Shudder* (26:00) - Spoilers* (1:08:55) - Final Recommendations* (1:10:32) - Interview* (2:12:00) - Outro

https://youtu.be/IGzb01GrsxQ

Synopsis

1BR is the story of Sarah, a young woman who moves to LA in order to start a new life away from her troubling family.

She finds a great apartment complex that seems strangely kind and welcoming. 

Sarah sneaks a cat into her new apartment and soon realizes that’s too much pussy for a one bedroom apartment. 

Watch 1BRWatch on AmazonClick Here to Watch

Review

1BR is written and directed by David Marmor and stars Nicole Brydon Bloom as Sarah. This is a somewhat unique movie as it’s a bit of a bait and switch and I fear that will hurt it on a streaming platform like Netflix where people can switch to watching The Office at a moment’s notice.

Strange Start

1BR starts out as a kind of silly, jumpscare-laden spookfest - and a lot of the themes early in the movie left me laughing at what I thought to be a pitiable attempt at a story. The characters felt fake, the scenarios felt unbelievable, and I kept asking, “Yeah, but why would anyone care?”

Solid End

At ⅔’s through, 1BR threw me for a real loop as I realized the movie had played me the same way the characters had played Sarah. The start of this movie felt like a facade to me, and the end left me with a lot of respect for it.

This is really, at its core, a social commentary, or a warning tale meant to alert people to complacently accepting social movements at face value and believing it’s the right thing not to fight back. 

Parts of this movie are very similar to one of my favorite thrillers of all-time, The Invitation.

Makes me feel...trapped

That Gas Lighting Feel

I’ve said this before, I’m a big fan of movies gaslighting me, and this one did exactly that, it played me like an instrument. I thought it was a silly little thriller and it ended up smacking me in the face with cold-hard truth. 

This is a particularly timely movie to watch right now,